''Octagon House'' is a 1937

serialized novel In literature, a serial is a printing or publishing format by which a single larger work, often a work of narrative fiction, is published in smaller, sequential instalments. The instalments are also known as ''numbers'', ''parts'' or ''fascicle ...

Phoebe Atwood Taylor Phoebe Atwood Taylor (Boston 18 May 1909–Boston 9 January 1976) was an American writer of mystery novels. She graduated from Barnard College in 1930 and married surgeon Grantley Walder Taylor in December 1951. Phoebe Atwood Taylor wrote mystery ...

that was distributed by the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...

and appeared in multiple newspapers in the United States.

Plot

''Octagon House'' tells the story of a New England town so scandalized by the offensive mural installed in their new post office that they paint over it. The novel focuses on government incompetence in general; a large and luxurious post office is built in a Cape Cod town with only 800 year-round residents. The mural, painted on the ceiling by Jack Lorne, a local painter who had stolen the commission through cronyism from Peggy Boone, another local painter, is titled ''The History and Customs of Cape Cod''. Asey Mayo, the protagonist, is called in to solve the murder of Lorne's wife Marina. Multiple local prominent citizens are "viciously caricatured" in the painting. Reactions to the mural take center stage to the solving of the mystery, as the townspeople are aghast at what it depicts: Eventually postal staff misplace a key to the building and the mural is painted over after hours.

Style

The novel was one of a series of Asey Mayo Mysteries set in the fictional

Cape Cod Cape Cod is a peninsula extending into the Atlantic Ocean from the southeastern corner of mainland Massachusetts, in the northeastern United States. Its historic, maritime character and ample beaches attract heavy tourism during the summer mont ...

town of Quanomet; Karal calls the protagonist of the series a "plain-spoken rustic" and the villains various "suave tourists" outwitted by the common-sense hero. In ''Octagon House'', Taylor uses Asey Mayo to comment on the vagaries of government-commissioned art.

Cultural references

At the time the book was written,

New Deal The New Deal was a series of programs, public work projects, financial reforms, and regulations enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1939. Major federal programs agencies included the Civilian Cons ...

programs were funding murals in hundreds of post offices throughout the United States. Art historian Karal Ann Marling wrote: In 1937, after the unveiling of ''

Dangers of the Mail ''Dangers of the Mail'' is a 1937 mural by Frank Mechau installed in the William Jefferson Clinton Federal Building (formerly the Post Office Department Building), in Washington, D.C. Commissioned by Treasury Department Section of Fine Arts, the ...

'', a post office mural that attracted widespread objections, Washington's ''Evening Star'' immediately called the mural "Art at its Worst", said it had "shocked all who have seen it", accused "government doles" of "foster ng..radicalism in art", and accompanied its review with a recounting of the plot of ''Octagon House''.

Popularity

The novel was serialized and distributed by the Associated Press and had, according to art historian Karal Ann Marling, "enjoyed a vast circulation".

Reception

''The New York Times'' said "it is the author's keen sense of humor that is the main attraction".

Plot

Style

Cultural references

Popularity

Reception

See also

References

Further reading